Are You Able to Solve This? That Overlooked Netherlands Invention Which Forged our Modern Globe
There are many contenders for the designation as “world’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that honor belongs to a mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, building a modest trading ship required approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over three months,” notes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to this speedy automated cutter, which turned timber to boards with virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders could construct vessels more quickly than anyone else, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial and cultural supremacy in the continent and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s initial authentic factory machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. One component transformed its circular motion to up-and-down motion to power the saw. Another component changed the spinning movement into a lateral motion feeding the log to the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead a measured step each cycle.
“Each element was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate these parts in order that the machine acted in a perfectly controlled order, sawing with each descending motion while advancing with each return stroke. This constituted a remarkably clever use of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us up to the current puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns rotary motion to up-and-down motion. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the bars can slide snugly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the components do not collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to propose (less celebrated) contenders as the planet’s most impactful invention.
